It's Ramadan!

Ramadan is the biggest holiday for Muslims and I just don't have the juice to do it justice right now. I'll catch you up later, but here is a little sneak peak.

Jeux de "Aviv"

This Friday (which is like Saturday for most of you) Max and I woke up bright and early - the crack of 7 am - and boarded a bus headed for Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is the economic capital of Israel, and actually, it is the disputed "real" capital of Israel. Most people in Israel say that Jerusalem is the capital, but most countries and organizations outside of Israel say that Tel Aviv is the capital. The U.S. embassy is in Tel Aviv, but there is a consulate in Jerusalem to kind of ease the tension about it.

Anyway, we met our friend Tal in Dizengoff Square and he lead us around for the day. We spent the morning in the Mediterranean sea and the afternoon eating a most delicious hamburger at a trendy little restaurant called "Moses".

We walked through all of the big streets and saw a famous street performer singing Patriotic Israeli songs and many amazing flea markets. At one such flea market I found a treasure of treasures. This little book was owned by a Polish Jew from Krakow (you can see the city's name on the back of the book). He/She brought it with her when she made Aliyah in 1935, just before WWII. Aliyah is when Jews from anywhere in the world move to Israel and claim their citizenship based solely on their Jewish heritage. Any Jew can do this. Anyway, there are a few songs and a few journal entries written in this book. My heart stopped when I found it.



It was great day.

Home is Where You Eat Your Dinner

A lot of important emotions at our house revolve around food. That being said, being able to cook in my own kitchen finally has been a great feeling. We got 4 fancy white dishes to set a real person's table, and with some groceries and a little equipment (more on that later) we are eating real meals! For the last few nights when we sit down for dinner Max has insisted on taking pictures.

Here you go Mom and Dad, we are eating just fine. In fact, we are eating Mexican food. Who knew such a thing could come to pass out here?




We've also posted some posters we brought around the house. And lots of Ashmae art. Thanks dear.

Facebook Has my Back

I got this message in my inbox today.


"Maxwell said on Facebook that you two are married. We need you to confirm that you are, in fact, married to Maxwell.

To confirm this relationship request, follow the link below:
www.facebookisfunny.com

Thanks,
The Facebook Team"


I'm glad they are looking out for me so that I can reject all of those jokers who claim to by my husband.

Getting Crafty in Ramallah

This past week I went with W and AX (not to be confused with A - different wonderful new friend) to visit a sister in the ward who lives in Ramallah. It's not really my story to tell, and so I won't - but this sister is not allowed to leave the West Bank (Ramallah) in order to come to church. The Israeli's have put up a barrier wall around the West Bank and Palestinians on the other side are VERY restricted from moving around within the West Bank and certainly outside of the West Bank. It has destroyed their economy, separated families, denied some people access to Health Services and tacked on up to 3 hours to the commute of those lucky enough to get work passes.

Injustices aside (of which there are many) the three of us rode a bus from the Hebrew U Campus out to Ramallah. Just after getting off the bus in the center of the city we walked through a souk with beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables. We settled on a few delicious mangos and a case of figs - my first time eating figs! We brought our treasures to C's house (the sister who lives in Ramallah) and were immediately fed a delicious variation of sticky bread.

After our treat C lead us into the living room where she had a box of broken China. She said something to the effect "When your kids start breaking your nice things you can either cry about it, or save it for a bird bath!" And so we used the China to piece together a bird bath! What could be more fun? My favorite part was when she pulled out the mallet and started whacking away at big pieces of china. Bits flying everywhere and she not even flinching. "We'll clean it later" she chimed.







We had a ball. After finishing the bird bath she fed us an AMAZING meal of roasted vegetables and palenta and we finished it off with our Mangos and Figs.


Hooray for new friends! (You've seen enough of my mug, I'm the one taking the pic)


It was great to make a new friend, and good for me to see more of what things are really like in at least this portion of the West Bank. I wrote this in my journal on the bus ride home

"There is this idea that the Palestinians can just go somewhere else. That they are pretty much comprised of 5 men with camels and tents and don't really have a place here. Or that the people who are there now just showed up last week to ruin the Israeli's party. I just kept thinking 'These are a people. A people who have lived here for decades (a century in fact). They have lives here and schools and gyms and jobs and government offices and a structured society. People need to let go of their merciless ideologies and look at what is real. Palestinians live here and Israeli's live here. It isn't easy, but it's what real. People who say things about those pesky Palestinians getting in the way of Israel's prosperity need to get on bus #18 and ride out to Ramallah"

Beard Update: yoter mi-dai/A Minor Setback

The odd phrase above means "more than enough" in Hebrew and that's what I got when I went to see the barber last week. You see, learning a new language throws you into all sorts of situations where the outcome may be completely unexpected and perhaps less than desirable. No offense to Yossi, but what you see below was not what I had in mind.


I was mentally writing this blog post on the way home after it happened. It was kind of a blur, but he had pointed in the general direction of my face and asked "This?" I didn't respond because he had turned his back to get the nice lady with the hair dye a drink of water. So when the clippers made their light-speed jump from my noggin to my chin, I only had time enough to gasp before they blazed a divot through my beard up toward my ear. Now, I was confronted with a choice: storm off and live with a divot or grit my teeth and accept the fact that this dude just hacked off several weeks worth of hard-won beard growth.

So I sat and took my divoting like a man, parting with 50 shekels for my trouble. I have since come to terms with the minor setback and, as you can see below, things are coming along like they should.

But just to be on the safe side, no haircuts for a while.